Any words of wisdom from the US Marine Corps folks here?

[AmBraCol]

Y'all who put in your time in the Corps (or currently active duty) - do y'all have any words of wisdom to pass on to our youngest? He passed the ASVAB and physical yesterday with flying colors. Did his high school teachers proud (that'd be his mother and your's truly) - made it into the top 20% of all US high school graduates who take the ASVAB and such. Anyway, he takes the oath the first part of March and probably heads to basic the first part of April. So anything you could pass on to him which might help him along the way would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

Paul

[Jayhawker]

I'm retired USN, not USMC, but some things apply no matter what service you're in. First of all, the bad things won't last forever. If he can keep a good attitude, he'll get through it. We can all pretty much laugh at boot after it's over, but there will time during the process that we've thought bad things about the drill instructor and his mother. Those time pass.

Another thought is to simply enjoy whatever comes your way. Make friends whenever you can because they can make life so much easier. Doesn't matter whether it's just someone to talk to or someone to help pull you over the wall, life gets better with friends.

[JReed]

First of all Congatulations.
What MOS is he going in for?
What was his ASVAB break down GT,EL, MM, etc. etc.
Boot camp sucks! But if he keeps his head in the game and keeps an open mind he will do great. Boot camp is as stressfull as you make it self disipline is the key to happyness. He can expect long days little sleep no coffee, no smokes, no women, and lots of yelling. I hope he likes to run.

Paul I sent you a PM

[sgtgrinche]

congradulations +1 on what jreed said
boot camp is 75% physcological and 25%
good luck and semper fi

[Ram Hammer]

Please extend best wishes to him. Send us picks from the graduation. I hear that Marine graduation from boot camp is the best program in the services.

[Jarhead]

Tell him to keep his mouth shut, his nose clean, and do what he is told! We started out with 75 men at the beginning of boot camp in June of 1971 and only 25 of us (original) platoon members actually graduated. Times have changed, but if he takes the above mentioned advice, and puts his heart and soul into wanting to become a U.S. Marine...he will make it
Sounds like he is headed in the right direction

Best wishes to him....Tell him to keep his chin up and his A%S down

Semper Fi

[Ysabel Kid]

Congratulations Paul! Tell your son "thank you" from all of us!!!

[sgtgrinche]

will he be going to Parris island or will he be a hollywood marine
no affence to any hollywooders out there

[handirifle]

Tell him to keep his mouth shut, his nose clean, and do what he is told! We started out with 75 men at the beginning of boot camp in June of 1971 and only 25 of us (original) platoon members actually graduated. Times have changed, but if he takes the above mentioned advice, and puts his heart and soul into wanting to become a U.S. Marine...he will make it
Sounds like he is headed in the right direction

Best wishes to him....Tell him to keep his chin up and his A%S down

Semper Fi

Jarhead
Yep time are different. I was in in '72, Army though, and 90% were draftees. There were some serious loosers in the bunch.

As for advice, what jayhawker said, it applies to all services. You gotta look past boot camp, it's designed to break down the "I wanna be my own man" attitude and instill, the "the team is what matters" mentality. That's what keeps us alive in combat.

Congrats to your son and to you guys for a job well done.

[pricecw]

I agree with the rest, the 3 words that he needs to embed in his brain are "Sir, Yes Sir". With that kind of scores, he is intelligent enough to handle the rest. Make sure he goes in knowing it is only 11wks, and you can put up with anything and anyone for 11wks, even if they are making you island hop around MCRD.

--Carl

[OJ]

Congrats!!! You make us all proud !!!

Actually, in the 40s and 50s, the only three answers were:
1. Yes sir
2. No sir
3. No excuse, sir.

If you were a Marine in 1950 and they told you this fuzzy faced kid was your Assistant Battalion Surgeon - would that have inspired confidence ??? - or just given you another reason to try to avoid getting wounded ???



As luck would have it, he eventually (maybe even related) showed signs of "maturity".

[awp101]

First, congrats to y'all and the boy as well.

Second, I was Army but in addition to what the others said about Basic/Boot it helps to know that a lot of it is mind games.

I was 25 when I went through and it made it easier to recognize the games being played and keep my cool when the younger guys were getting bent out of shape. The knowledge didn't lessen the effects of the training but helped me focus better instead of wasting time and energy complaining.

That doesn't mean I liked it at the time though...

[Noah Zark]

I did boot at MCRD Parris Island in the fall of '72. Some things have changed, others remain the same.

Right now, the best thing he can do is physical and mental conditioning. He should start running every day, five to 10 miles. LOTS of push ups, pull ups. If overweight, get it off. Get up at 0430 and lights out by 2200-2300 at the latest. When the alarm goes off, he MUST jump out of bed NOW, no laying there for another five minutes. Get used to showering and shaving in five (5) minutes or less. Get used to keeping his clothing items placed neatly in one medium-sized drawer. Get accustomed to 24-hr time. Eight PM is "Twenty hundred."

He should start to lose the 1st person singular pronoun from his vocabulary, and begin referring to himself as "This recruit" instead of "I." There is no "I" at MCRD Parris Island or MCRD San Diego.

He should be prepared to do everything on command, ONLY on command, and instantly. If he gets to the front of a line and starts to do some task before the SDI or JDI tells him to, he'll be chewed on and sent to the back of the line. FOLLOW ORDERS to the letter, and immediately.

Discourage letters from home and from his girlfriend. Don't send any photos from home or baked goods. He will catch grief for it. Any one writing to him must NEVER refer to him as "Marine" or "a Marine" in a letter. He is a RECRUIT while at Basic. If you have to write, address it to "Recruit so and so." NEVER "Marine."

He should NOT wear or take with him to Basic a T-shirt that has "Marines" or the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor printed on it. Likewise, he MUST not get any tattoos with the same prior to graduation from Basic. If he has any tats or piercings now, he's going to catch grief. Take out pins, rings, studs NOW so the piercings start to close up.

Go to a Barnes & Noble or Borders and pick up a copy of the "Marine Corps Book of Lists" and have him study it as if taking a final within a month. He will be steeped on USMC history and tradition, and it will be good for him to start getting a head start on such knowledge as who were the two Marines that each won two Medals of Honor, and how did they earn them, list the significant battles and campaigns in which the USMC took part, who was Lewis B Puller, and the lyrics to all three stanzas of the Marine Hymn. The objective is to learn this ahead of time so as to know it, but NOT be a hot dog with the info while at MCRD.

Have him remenber that MCRD is 80% psychology and 20% physical. The objective of basic training is to remove individuality and replace it with teamwork and an intense feeling of loyalty for his other green brothers.

HTH,

Noah

[meanc]

I might not be of popular opinion here, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Right now isn't the time.

There's a lot going on outside of just the operations in Iraq. It's just going to get worse with the stir up w/ Kosovo, Iran, Turkey, etc...

Add on top of that the fact that we're entering an election year, which to me is never a good time to go in.

I've always told kids to go to college when possible, and if still interested in joining afterwards, do so as an officer candidate.

Also, just make sure his MOS compliments his ASVAB scores. If hes got the aptitude for avionics/computer networking/electronics/etc... and he has an interest in one of those fields, don't let the recruiter talk him into an MOS that isn't going to make him happy.

Make sure to see if there are any bonuses for a particular MOS, especially for one he may have already signed for.

If he's not happy with the arrangements he's already made, let him know he can change his mind and have them change things around to more suitable opportunities.

Just remember, you're not obligated to go in until you've sworn the oath.

If he's happy with his contract and he is definitely going in, with no doubts about it,

Wish him the best of luck, always give 110%, play scared stupid with anyone not a recruit.

Finally, sir should always begin and end every sentence spoken to a DI.

Oh yeah, forgot to add... Start getting use to drill basics and conditioning now.


Semper Fi

[Modoc ED]

I'm retired USN not USMC but my advice applies to all branches of the Military. "Do what he's told to do when he's told to do it" and no lip or attitude. "Do the best and most thorough job he can do when assigned a task".

[Jeeps]

Just tell him to keep his mouth shut and his eyes and ears open.....

The Drill Instructors will take care of the rest, trust me

God bless him, and be ready for the tears on graduation day

[41 Redhawk]

Discourage letters from home and from his girlfriend. Don't send any photos from home or baked goods. He will catch grief for it.

When my son was in boot his best friend, who had been through boot already, sent him a females thong. I understand he looked pretty good in it!

One thing he did was to keep all his stuff in his locker packed in plastic bags labeled with his name. That way when the DIs dumped everyones locker out into the middle of the floor and doused everything with water, it was an easy task to sort out his stuff and get it put away.

[Noah Zark]

Back in '72 at Parris, I recall it was during Grass Week our barracks had just gone "lights out" for not more than 5 minutes when the lights came back on and the trash can went sailing down the deck. As we leapt out of the racks and hit the line, the JDI was holding his left hand out, screaming "WHO DIDN'T FLUSH? WHO DIDN'T FLUSH?" He raced up and down the deck, stopping at different recruits who he apparently thought looked guilty, asking them personally if they were the guilty party. None of the recruits fessed up. The JDI went to the first recruit and ordered him to "Present left hand," which the recruit reluctantly did. The JDI placed the offending "tootsie roll" on the recruits hand, ordered him to pass it down the line, then across the bay and back up the opposite line. By the time to got to the last recruit, there was not much left. We were then dismissed to our racks, and we all got what sleep we could, lying with our befecaled left hands out to the side of the rack. I never looked forward to 0500 more than that night.

Suffice to say, there were probably 10 or 15 recruits policing the head each night before lights out from then on until graduation.

Noah

[Hillbilly]

that position that's impossible to overun... may be just as hard to bug out of...

that plan you had... usually goes right out the window after the first shot is fired

Murphy was an optomist

Tell your kid thanks...

~Hill